Archives

Late yesterday, the state Board of Elections completed the recount of votes cast in the Supreme Court race between sitting Justice Cheri Beasley and her challenger, Winston-Salem attorney Mike Robinson, with Beasley coming out ahead by more than 5,400 votes.

When Robinson initially requested the recount, the tally showed Beasley ahead by 5,427 votes. Final recount totals gave Beasley a 5,410 vote margin.

The Beasley win moves the balance on the court a little more to the center, with four Republicans (Chief Justice Mark Martin and Justices Robert Edmunds Jr., Paul Newby and Barbara Jackson) and three Democrats (Justices Robin Hudson, Beasley and Sam Ervin IV).

Justice Beasley had the incumbent advantage after having been appointed to the court in late 2012 by outgoing Gov. Bev Perdue, but Robinson had the backing of well-heeled conservative donors pushing for Republican dominance on the court. He also got a last-minute boost from the Washington, D.C.-based Republican State Leadership Committee, which threw in $400,ooo in October to blitz the “I Like Mike” jingle on television during the last week of the campaign.

According to state Board of Elections public information officer Josh Lawson, state law gives Robinson the option of demanding a second recount in a sample of precincts, which would be conducted by the hand-to-eye recount method. He has 24 hours from the completion of the first recount to ask for that, making his deadline today at 7:48 p.m.

UPDATE: Per NPR’s Jorge Valencia, Robinson has conceded the race to Justice Beasley. See below:

And as now confirmed by the SBOE, per below, Beasley has won the race.

Winston-Salem attorney Mike Robinson, who challenged sitting Justice Cheri Beasley for her seat on the state Supreme Court, has asked the state Board of Elections for a recount of the votes cast in that race, according to the board’s public information office, Josh Lawson.

The latest posted results from the SBOE show Beasley ahead by 5,427 votes — with 1,239,217 votes to Robinson’s 1,233,790.

State law allows a candidate in a statewide race to request a recount when the difference between the votes cast is one-half of one percent (0.5%) or 10,000, whichever is less.

In an email Lawson added: “We’ll be working on guidance to the counties so that they can have the recount completed by canvass next Tuesday.”

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, Mike Robinson will ask the state Board of Elections for a recount in his Supreme Court race against Justice Cheri Beasley.

“Robinson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he intends to request a recount after the State Board of Elections certifies the election results,” the Journal reported.

(The Robinson campaign has not yet returned a call to confirm the candidate’s intentions.)

The latest posted results from the SBOE show Beasley with 1,228,439 votes and Robinson with 1,225,298.

State law allows a candidate in a statewide race to request a recount when the difference between the votes cast is one-half of one percent (0.5%) or 10,000, whichever is less.

Robinson can submit his request at any time up until noon November 18, which is the second business day after the county canvass — when the counties approve their results as “official,” according to SBOE Public Information Officer Josh Lawson.

Any recount would occur after the county canvass, with a decision possible before Thanksgiving.

As we reported yesterday, the Justice for All NC PAC is poised for a last-minute ad blitz supporting Republican-endorsed candidates for the state Supreme Court, after receiving a fresh infusion of $400,000 from the Republican State Leadership Committee this past week.

Now it appears that at least of some of that money is going toward a television ad from the Louisiana-based Innovative Advertising — which goes by the tagline “People Who Think” — supporting conservative Winston-Salem lawyer Mike Robinson, who’s challenging incumbent Justice Cheri Beasley.

The people who think didn’t have to dig too deep into the innovation barrel for this one, though.

Instead they’ve recycled the Paul Newby banjo ad (watch above) — also their creation — this time replacing the banjo with a guitar and the catch phrase from “Newby Tough but Fair” to “I Like Mike.”

Read more here from Chris Kromm at Facing South, and watch the Robinson video below.

As noted in the N&O, Justices Robin Hudson and Cheri Beasley — both of whom are running for re-election to the state Supreme Court — are hosting a “combo-fundraiser” tonight at the Advocates for Justice building, bringing in some signature supporters including former N.C. Chief Justices Henry Frye, Burley Mitchell and James Exum, former Court of Appeals Judges Sidney Eagles Jr. and K. Edward Greene, Cressie Thigpen, David Kirby, Roger and Wade Smith, Phil Baddour, Doug and Peggy Abrams and Janet Ward Black.

But Hudson and Beasley are not the first to kick-off fundraising for the four Supreme Court slots up for grabs in 2014. They’re more likely playing catch up to Justice Mark Martin, who by the end of June of this year had already raised $95,000 for his bid to be elected Chief Justice.